d the admiration--not to mention the
alarm--of the women.

"The puir felly'll be droon'd," pitifully observed a fore-cabin
passenger from Edinburgh, as she gazed at the mass of air-bubbles that
arose when Edgar's iron head had disappeared.

"Nothink of the sort," responded a fore-cabin passenger from London, who
had taken an immense liking to the fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh,
in virtue of their total mental, moral, and physical dissimilarity;
"divers are never drownded."

We need scarcely observe to the intelligent reader that both females
were wrong--as such females, in regard to such matters, usually are.
Edgar was _not_ "droon'd," and divers _are_ sometimes "drownded."

So far from being drowned, he was remarkably successful in discovering
the leak on his first descent.

It was caused by one of the iron-plates near the keel having been badly
torn by a coral rock.

Thoroughly to repair this was a difficulty. Our diver did indeed stuff
it with oakum in a way that at once diminished the influx of water; but
this was merely a makeshift. It now became a question whether it were
possible to effect the necessary repairs while at sea. Our young
engineer removed the difficulty. He undertook to rivet an iron-plate
over the hole--at least to make the attempt.

In order to effect this, a rope-ladder was constructed long enough to
pass entirely under the ship's bottom, to which it was tightly pressed
by means of tackle at both ends. The rounds of this ladder were made of
wood, and all along its course were fastened rough balls or blocks of
wood about four inches in diameter, which prevented it coming too close
to the ship's bottom. Thus there was secured space for the diver to
place his feet on the rounds. This ladder having been affixed, so as to
pass close to the injured plate, a boat was lowered, and from this boat
descended a small ladder, hung in such a way that the diver, when a few
feet under water, could easily step from it to the fixed rope-ladder.
In addition to this, a small plank suspended to a rope, somewhat after
the fashion of a familiar style of bed-room bookshelf, was taken down by
the diver and hung to the rope-ladder by a hook, so that he could sit on
it while at work, and move it about at pleasure.

All having been prepared, our engineer descended with the necessary
tools, and, to make a long story short, riveted a new plate over the old
one in such a way as effectually to close the leak